#81 DESIGNING THE STORE * (revised 6/3) check out area

(click on the drawing to enlarge)

So often, owners of garden stores set up the checkout areas with very little thought. In fact, the least attention in the entire design of the buildings is given to the checkouts, customer flow during the peak season, parking and the overall accessibility to the business. These factors will eventually determine greatly whether the business grows or just will flat line in the years to come. Checkout areas, one of those "pinch points", will determine whether you are a good garden store or a great garden store.

We have studied the checkout areas in a number of stores, both large and small, processing a variety of products. We have paid particular attention to the large garden stores in the United States. We have imitated the best features in our design for the company.

Establishing an indoor/outdoor checkout station, our own concept just makes a lot of sense for efficiency and economy. There are a lot of slow days in the gardening season, rainy, cold weather that leaves the outdoor checkers just standing there shivering, all because the company wants that area manned. In other locations, the checkout is left abandoned looking like a beached whale with the few shoppers who have braved the weather left wondering where to buy their stuff. Tacky.

Also, As spring turns into summer and there is no need for the numbers of checkout stations at the garden shop, the pattern of most owners is to just leave the checkout sitting there, again, gathering dust. Think about it, the most highly exposed, visible display location in the entire garden store is occupied by a bunch of counters piled up with just junk and a cash register with a cover over it! Our slower season design for the unused checkout #L turns that area into an extremely valuable display space. #18 are a series of portable panels that are placed as a backdrop and display while still utilizing the counters for display. The cash registers, electronic equipment and all other checkout materials are stored inside the #18 as they surround the space.

The design calls for a total of four checkout "kiosks". #A and #K are permanent cash registers checkouts throughout the season. Kiosk #L is utilized as the season gets busier and then as a display unit later. Kiosk #L1 is a portable removable unit that is used only in the very high peak season weeks of the store, then removed and stored. There can be a total of eight cash registers (indicated by the colored squares on the plan) at full tilt gardening season. All the kiosks are wrapped with removable slot board panels that feature popular impulse items for gardeners.

Although our check out employees are trained to answer a number of “customer service” questions, the most experienced employees manning in kiosk K double as “informational” persons manning our information counter using areas #4 and #5 for brief consultations (with a supplemental information station at the outdoor nursery office). In the indoor checkout #A, the “information” station is at #11 and #12. The employees at Kiosk K continue to check out customers as well as manning the information counters until nearly the end of season.

Kiosk #K is not only an information area. It is also a plant "pharmacy" for problems and solutions. Wall #20 is shelved, holding chemicals and fertilizers most often recommended by our store, with easy access by these information employees. All resource materials, an Internet connected computer and printer, and store handouts are at their disposal in this area to consult with gardeners.

In this scenario, we can envision, during off peak season, a minimum of one and a maximum of 2 employees responsible for checkout and information, cutting employee labor 50% over traditional garden stores. Following the season closure, all checkout and information counter equipment and resources are removed and stored.

We want our checkers to mostly process the material "cart to cart", moving the customer purchases from their transit cart to a new cart as he or she processes the material. The colored hatched areas are for empty carts waiting for this processing.

Impulse sales are important to the business. There are numerous panels, #18, that both shield the cash registers and display often popular products for gardening.

These areas are for checkout and exiting the store. Customers flow in one direction only. The width between the checkout stations is sufficient to allow two rows of customers with their goods and a center aisle for transit.

There are breaks in the counter checkout kiosks to allow employees to easily move out to the floor is necessary to help customers in their immediate area.

Most checkout stations in garden shops, as viewed by the customers who wait to complete their transactions, are a mess. They see exposed shelves below the counter with just crap that has been left there over weeks and months. Some have covered these exposed shelves with cheap fabric stapled to the wood and that is really awful looking. We have chosen to keep most of the shelves exposed but we insist that the storage is orderly and appealing at all times. It is not offensive to show production materials at the checkouts. It is offensive if these materials are a train wreck. Additionally, all the counters are to be uncluttered like the bartender presents his bar; clean, uniform, unobstructed.

Each employee in the checkout stations stands on heavy duty rubber mats, which are the finest mat available to ease the physical problems of continuous standing on concrete.The corners of the checkout counters are rounded to prevent injury to employees and customers.

There is a locked cabinet under each checkout station for the employee to store personal items, purses, phones, etc during his or her shift.

Many garden store owners and managers insist that the checkout employees stand at their registers for the entire shift. This practice, in our view, is downright brutal. Try it sometime for an entire shift! They also expect that the employees in this area do little or nothing but handle transactions. Get on one of those registers on a cold slow day and try not to go insane just doing nothing but waiting! That is one of the reasons for high turnovers of checkout employees. They go mad! We have attempted to ease these issues in several ways. First, small bar stool chairs are available to the checkers during slow time and they are encouraged to use them. Second, we have given the checkout employees other tasks to perform; laminating signs, making tags, producing new handout brochures etc. We want our employees in these stations to feel productive in their workday, even the slow days when the place is deserted.

The checkout stations in garden stores or any retail store are the first impression a customer has of the professional look of a business. Those checkout employees are the ambassadors of the store, the first faces of the business. We make every effort to keep all our employees motivated and enthusiastic about green garden gates.

#80 DESIGNING THE STORE * (revised 6/3) blockhouse first floor retail

Sarah Lindsey-Banks had to fight them all.

“Every town, every store, one by one, she sat with the owners of those Harley stores and stared them down. After all, this was a biker place, where men were men and tough shit if you didn’t like it. This was a place for grease and gears and shots and beers, where the only background music was tearing off the muffler and opening up the throttle. The idea of a little silver rack of cute womens' bandannas sitting next to the hogs was a sacrilege, an outrage that made those owners mad as hell. Every so slowly, the owners watched the ladies arrive and the cash registers ring and the battle was won.

So this idea convincing the others to mix a fine painting and an antique desk near the fruit trees was a walk in the park. She knew what those gardeners would buy and she knew where in green garden gates they would find it”

The retail garden shop is the only tempered part of the buildings at green garden gates. It is fully enclosed, insulated, heated and air conditioned.

This area has a number of functions. It houses restrooms, a small retail office, work areas for performing needs in the complex, an indoor checkout area in days of unfavorable weather, and the heating and HVAC, electronic panels. It is the display area for products that require a clean environment away from the outdoor elements.

We believe, as we have expressed many times, that gardening is an adventure. Following our concept, this indoor area, this gift arena on the first floor of the blockhouse, is to be a gardening adventure store. We like high quality museum stores where products related to their collections are available to customers.

The interior is a simple design, with emphasis on fixtures that are practical but classical in look. This indoor area presents gardening beyond just the plants and plant care products. We offer for sale stationary and books, paintings and lithographs, gift packs of high end gardening tools, wall hangings, cups and mugs, wrapping papers, all with the theme of gardening.

Dirt and water and stains will kill the sales of these beautiful gardening products. If you want to sell quality and beauty, you have to have a place to display quality and beauty. No woman who drives up in a Range Rover is going to open her purse for a dog eared dusty birthday card.

The floor is unstained concrete that has been machined toweled to a polished high finish. Area rugs are positioned according to displays. The lighting is classic and simple

Some garden stores owners listened to their architects and stamp their concrete floors with raised designs. You know, the temple look. Ever tried to clean that rough surface or watched a lady with high heals gingerly walk over that rough rustic floor?

Some owners paint the concrete and paint and paint, over and over again each year because it chips and peels no matter what the paint guy will tell you. Some mix a stain in the concrete only to regret that colored floor when a new color for the store is needed. LEAVE IT NATURAL! You can accent other ways.

The walls and ceiling are sheetrock, taped and textured.

The sixties are gone. Forget the old barn wood. Use that stuff for accents, but don't wall up the place with dark old wood. This is a modern retail store, not a dungeon.

The windows, which do not open, are large to give the customer full view of the activity in the rest of the complex. There are two sets of automatic sliding doors, one set for customer use and one single door for use by employees manning the indoor/outdoor checkout station.

Automatic doors are expensive, but they are well worth the cost. You won't regret them ever. Get a couple of employess to learn all about how to maintain them and stop calling the door guy and paying out money

A. The indoor checkout area

The main counter is positioned directly adjacent to the main doors of the area. The back counters are used primarily for display of frequently requested items. All the exposed counters are rounded so that employees and customers do not get bruised hitting sharp corners. A sliding door opens automatically enabling the check out employee to move back and forth to the outside checkouts saving labor that normally would require two check-out employees during slow times. Other counters are used to laminate signs or produce descriptive tags. We see that a number of functions can be performed in this check out area.

B. The customer corridor

This area is kept open and unencumbered for customers as they enter and exit the retail store.

C. The seasonal display area

This square footage has been designated for seasonal display of giftware and other products.

D. Gardening product categories area

Most garden stores just line up their products on long rows of shelving. All the product categories run into each other. We have designed certain categories and have separate shelving for them: bird feeding supplies, pruning and grafting, seed starting, etc. Large signing above immediately directs our customers to those specific product areas. Most of the display counters are on rollers and can be easily re-configured for changes in design.

E. Manager’s Day Office

The manager has this small office to conduct daily business on the floor. It is enclosed and has glass windows to view the activity. Two floor safes as wells as a "gun safe" for till storage are near this office.

F. Staircase and exit doors

This is the staircase and landing leading to the second floor manager’s residence. A door accesses to the storage and receiving area.

G. Electrical closet

This area contains heating and cooling equipment as well as a hot water heater, telephone, cable, Internet and electrical panels for the store.

H/I. Restrooms

The restrooms are unisex facilities with no designated gender. We know that women’s bathrooms are more congested than men’s facilities.

We want to make both restrooms available to the genders. The are simple in design with utility and durability in mind

J. Access door to receiving and employee lounge area

Employees access through this door to clock in and out for their workday. That equipment is located on the wall of Section I.

K. Outdoor Checkout Station

This is one of two stations. A description of all the checkout stations will be discussed later.

#79 DESIGNING THE STORE * (revised 1/25) the second floor residence"

“Joseph D’Amato and his wife, Katherine, eventually bought a nearby building, set up shop, and moved into an apartment upstairs, following a tradition of “living over the store” that dates back hundreds of years, when work was life, and took most of the shopkeeper’s waking hours.

Sandy, their daughter, who was born over the store, began helping out at the age of five years with her father Sam and her grandfather, Joseph. ‘I spent many of my younger days working at the store,’ she fondly recalled. ‘After school, I would take the bus from school and arrive at the store around four P.M., which gave me enough time to eat dinner at four-thirty at my grandparents next door and then help my dad through the five-thirty to six-thirty rush, before the store closed at seven. If I was tired, I’d sleep on top of the beer cases”

From The Mom and Pop Store

By Robert Spector

The second floor of the “blockhouse” is the residence for our new Oklahoma manager, Dana Scofield. This will be home for three years for Dana and her young son, Nathan. We want to make these residences comfortable for all our managers at green garden gates.


The flooring is a combination of carpet and tile. We want the flexibility to change out most of the flooring on a regular basis. The walls are sheet rock, textured and painted a neutral light color. Dana has the option to paint and re-decorate as she sees fit. The cost of paint and labor is her responsibility. The ceiling is also sheet rock with a light texture.

We have no standard florescent tube lighting in the residence, except in the kitchen. All the bulbs are energy saving florescent bulbs. Heat and air conditioning is piped into the residence from the store gas HVAC unit below. There is a separate gas and electric metering system for the residence and the managers are responsible for these utilities. The windows in the residence all open to take advantage of differing weather conditions.





The residence is equipped with computer equipment that is tied to the mainframe of the business operations and the security cameras positioned around the site. The office is furnished with the manager needs; copier, fax, scanner and printer and office supplies. We expect that major administrative work is done by the manager in the residence.

There is the ability for the manager to electronically open the main gates from the residence. The windows and security cameras provide full visibility to the gates and other special security spots at all times. A land line telephone is also installed in the residence. There is an alarm system in the residence for intruders as well as fire and toxic smoke issues. There are speakers built into each room of the house connected to a provided sound system and flat screen television.

The manager may elect to bring her furnishing to the residence. In this case, all unneeded furniture and fixtures will be placed into storage and used for the residence of the next green garden gates.



A. The main bedroom

B. The bath and shower area

C. The second bedroom

D. An office area for the manager

E Kitchen, which also houses the washer and dryer unit. There is a table in this area that is used for the manager as well as a place for meetings on store business.

F. Hall

G. Living room

H. Record Storage. This area is primarily for the storage of records for the store

I. Covered Deck and railing, running the full length of the building side which is accessed from two sets of French doors in the living room. The eves of the roof overhand to cover this area.

J. Stairway leading to the main floor. The manager can access the first floor retail area as well as access directly into her vehicle storage area

#78 DESIGNING THE STORE * (revised 6/3) regional concepts of blockhouses

As the process begins for designing the “local flavor” of a green garden gates in a community and region, an artist will be hired from the area who has a history of the community and can best depict our business through the architecture of the structures, in order to be readily accepted into by the residents.

The Southwest design of the blockhouse will be used for this region. The colors will be in shades of browns and reds and tans. The exterior walls will be stucco. The lower entrance and the front design will have arched features. Window boxes will be installed on the second floor with flowers that compliment the building. The roof will be faux tile. The corners of the building will be rounded rather than angular in the fashion of a southwest structure.

The New England design, by contrast, will have bright colors that reflect the seashore and stand out against cloudy and cold days of the New England coastline. The windows will be paned with mullions. The awnings are rounded and arched. There are shutters on each window. Window boxes with flowers typical of New England gardens will be on both stories of the blockhouse. The roof will be dark composition shingles.

It is a simple design, with very few elements that require custom expensive work from the builders. Nearly all of the features can be purchased "off the shelf" or found as recycled materials. The design can also changed and updated in the future. The structure can be for a variety of uses for good re-sale value, if that ever is needed.

#77 DESIGNING THE STORE */ ( revised 6/3) "part one concepts" the blockhouse

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Nick Hudson, or his associate, is available for presentations, orally or verbally to the industry. Mr. Hudson, or his associate, is also available for consultations to garden centers, both onsite and offsite. If you have an interest in a presentation or a consultation, please contact nickhudson@earthlink.net.

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Nick Hudson knew about how to build a nearly perfect garden store. He knew what did and did not work.

It took him years tramping around his little place to discover annoying quirks in the day to day activities of the business, so many special needs for the movement of plants and plant care products that required doors in the right place, lighting in the right location, and parking lots that were set up properly. It was the little quirks that could cause a lot of work; faulty buried irrigation valves that had to be dug up in the middle of an aisle, check outs that caused massed confusion and flowers delivered that had to be placed on the roof because there was nowhere for them to go.

He had seen a lot of big garden stores, places that some famous architect had planned, who had never worked in the business and had seen the problems. He spotted the mistakes right away. He wrote them down in his little brown notebook. It was time to design green garden gates. It was time to open the notebook

In deciding the look for green garden gates, the group of four, together with our new manager, Dana Scofield, settled on some basic principles;

1. The design of the buildings will be simple, classic structures, which will blend into any community in the United States.

2. It will be easy to embellish or add to the structures to fit the flavor of the community and geographical location.

3. The structures will be cost effective, efficient with high re-sale appeal. They can be repeated over and over in any location of the country.

4. The structures will be totally functional and pragmatic for the present use and any number of other future uses.

5 The structures will be “green”, with a minimum carbon footprint in the initial building as well as in the daily operations of the store.

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The “Mall” look or the “Disney” look

There are two distinct designs of garden stores that interested us for green garden gates. Both of them can be successful.

The first is to cover the entire customer area completely. This can be done by a range of permanently enclosed greenhouses or by using retractable greenhouse/shade house structures. The customer can then move from one venue to another, one display area to another out of the weather and in comfort. This is the shopping center “Wal-Mart concept. There is one way in and one way out. The environment is completely controlled. False little storefronts can be constructed inside this huge area to interest the customer.

The second is used by Disney in their theme parks. Customers move from one structure, one area of interest, one theme to another and are caught up in each distinct presentation. They moved from a neutral environment to a particular feature “world” all through their park.

We, at green garden gates want our customers experience the ultimate adventure and discovery in gardening, plants and plant care. Rather than a big overall covering, we want a series of structures that invites this adventure and discovery. We have chosen the “Disney” concept for this core reason. The long term cost of building separate structures may or may not be more cost effective than the “Mall” covering, but we believe this concept gives our customers a gardening world that we want at green garden gates.

"There’s little more satisfying than walking into a store, picking up the (metaphorical) scent of something we’ve been hunting for and then tracking it to its lair. Too much signage and point of purchase display take all the adventure out of the shopping trip; stores shouldn’t be willfully confusing or obscure, but they should seduce shoppers through the aisles with suggestions and hints of what’s to come”

“Why We Buy”

By Paco Underhill

The Greenhouse Look or a Flower Market look

Our customers will only have a brief glance from their vehicles as they pass quickly on a busy street. How we present green garden gates to them in this glance makes all the difference in their decision to shop or just drive by.

Many garden stores have stuck with the traditional greenhouse look. They place a greenhouse structure as the showplace of the store which is highly visible to the passing vehicle traffic. This is especially appealing when the main building is very close to the street. At first, when the store is new, the greenhouse looks terrific. As it ages, the greenhouse look starts to get tired, often dirty, and routine. Of course, at that point, there is very little the owner can do for a makeover. The owner is stuck with the greenhouse. To a lesser degree, there is the notion that customers often associate greenhouses with florist shops and fresh flowers. We want to be much more than that. To add to that little problem with these greenhouse themed buildings is a subtle feeling with some customers and a bit disturbing to us; greenhouses mean florists mean expensive.

The other concept is that of a flower market. The structures have more of a warehouse look with the emphasis on not just plants, but the entire range of gardening products. There can be plenty of display of color and texture of plants with this flower market look, but the presentation is not limited to a bunch of Boston ferns, often the same Boston ferns for many months, in a big greenhouse.

We have a different business model at green garden gates that requires additional thinking about "the look". First, we are closed for business at times of the year. That means that the greenhouses will be empty and abandoned an out of business feeling. Then there is the matter of maintaining the greenhouse during those closed months; extra heating may be required to keep them safe. Second, we are extremely close to the street traffic for the impact of a greenhouse. Customers would have to look carefully though gates and past a parking area to get the “hit” of a flower filled greenhouse. Third, we want the ability to change with the retailing times. We are hesitant about the investment in greenhouse structures and the cost to change the look in the months and years to come.

We have decided on a flower market look but have added a hint of “greenhouse” in our “bookends” buildings. The upper sides of the structure and the entire roof will be large panels of glass. The building will stay lighted night and day during the season. We believe that this combination will convince the customer that we are in the plant and plant care business.

It’s the color stupid

In our travels to garden stores, we have been stunned by the lack color in the structures of these businesses. Many of them have as much appeal to the gardener as a radiator shop!

HELLO, we live and die by color in the gardening business. Oh yeah, the petunias are in bloom and the flowering cherries have blossoms, but the place looks like it is making boat trailers to the customer passing by.

We are determined that green garden gates will be a place of color from start to finish; the buildings, the adornments, the signing, the uniforms and our plants and plant care products. In each of our stores, depending on the predominant color themes of the geographic region, we will have a standard color palette as we use with the style of the structures.

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In the following entries, we sketch the buildings and grounds of green garden gates. These are the first concept designs. When we are completed, we will draw upon the technical and design expertise of an architect, a builder, and an artist to refine the sketches for color and form as well as the efficient and cost saving practicality of our concepts.

We start with a simple box. We call it the blockhouse. It is the signature for all the green garden gates. Customers new to the area will immediately identify the building. Consequently, they will relate to the quality, selection and service of the business that occupies that building and those structures. The blockhouse will be prominently positioned on the site for the maximum exposure to the public.

It is a two story square building, with an interior measurement of about thirty feet by thirty feet. It is a clear span stick built structure with no bearing walls. It will be on a concrete slab with no crawl space.

Many garden store owners make the mistake of building large tempered structures, sort of monuments to themselves. These grand buildings make the cover of trade magazines but end up costing a lot of money to construct and maintain and are targets for higher property taxes. We believe that there is no need to make this unnecessary investment in the garden store business. Most products can be easily and effectively displayed outside in sheltered, enclosed spaces

The 900 square feet on the first floor will be the retail garden store. The ceiling height on the first floor is ten feet to allow for the look of spaciousness. Entrance and exiting to and from the retail first floor is from the side after the customer enters into the structure built on each side. This retail area is the only public area that will be heated and air conditioned.

Security is important to our business. We want as few entrances and exits as possible for our structures. Customers do not enter directly into this first floor . Rather, they enter the complex and then into the first floor. It is hard to control customer traffic flow during the season. Too many doors just will add to securing the business. We also believe that there must be some area of the business that is heated and air conditioned for the comfort of both the customers and staff and this first floor area is designed for this

The first floor houses garden and garden related gift items that require special attention away from the harsh outdoor under cover environment or require extra security.The first floor contains an indoor checkout area that passages into the outdoor checkout area of the store built onto the blockhouse. It has an adjacent small office for conducting daily administrative activities. The windows that do not open in this first floor. The number and style of windows will depend on the design “flavor” of the community.

These windows do not open for security reasons. Windows that open just add one more concern and allows for possible losses of energy during the days and nights. The combination indoor and outdoor checkout area gives the flexibility for one staff member to handle both indoor and outdoor transactions on slow days of the season.

The second floor houses the manager’s apartment. It measures the same, 900 square feet on the interior walls. The ceiling height is eight feet rather than the first floor ten feet. It also is heated and air conditioned. Entrancing and exiting to and from the second floor is from an interior private staircase that leads to several areas; to the first floor retail area, to the outdoor area, and to the garage adjacent to the blockhouse. All the windows open in this second floor to take advantage of the weather conditions of the seasons. The second floor of the blockhouse will have a large outdoor deck attached for the manager's personal needs.

The signing for green garden gates on this blockhouse will be prominent from all directions that are visible to the public. A large red light will be mounted on a pole on top of the roof that signals to our gardening customers that a freeze is possible that night.